


Vigil

by baeberiibungh



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: AU, Age Difference, Disturbing Themes, Empath Will, F/M, Foster Care, M/M, Non-Explicit Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pseudo-Incest, Rape/Non-con Elements, Slow Burn, WIP, ward - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-26 17:50:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6249622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeberiibungh/pseuds/baeberiibungh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will looks at Hannibal draw in rattling breath after rattling breath, the oxygen mask snug against his face…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Will gets out of the taxi and slings his small carry all over his shoulder. Fare paid, Will turns to look at the huge building. It is seven stories high, with big glass walls in the middle inviting natural light to brighten the space while brick arms with small windows stretch to the side, white blinds drawn on almost all of them. There are a few people milling about, a group of four in uniform while two families, Will assumes they are families seeing how clustered they stand amidst the wide area before the door and one doctor who is talking to one of the families.

The doctor, Will can’t see what their name is from where he is standing and staring, has a face on that Will knows all too well. There is bad news, but some silver lining is to be offered to ease the mental pain the family is obviously going through at the loss or the possibility of it. It’s 10.30 in the morning, the sun out and about with a nifty little wind blowing that pushes Will to burrow into his jacket. He takes the step and passes by the family who is getting a bit verbal over the loss now, a woman clearly crying and hugging a man to her, maybe the husband, maybe even the son while the doctor moves on with admirable calm.

The door is open and Will walks right in onto the counter where a man is sitting and typing something into the computer before him. Will already knows where he is supposed to be going and had already been given very direct directions as to how reach his destination, but he still goes up to the man, leans over the counter in a bid to catch his attention and says, “Hello there, may I know which room is Hannibal Lecter admitted?”

The man, a nurse presumably from the uniform he also has on, checks the computer and says, “Are you family?”

Will gives the man a smile then, a smile that means even less to himself than what it means to this stranger and says, “Yes, he is my father.”

The man gives the same directions that are sitting in the text messages in his mobile and points to him which stairs or lift to take. Will thanks the man perfunctorily, not that the man seems to accept it as he is already engaged with what he was doing with the computer and Will walks up to the lift. There are hushed sounds coming from the rooms behind the orderly at the counter and Will cranes his head back to peer there while he waits for the lift to come. He can see nothing because there is a thick glass and wired door there and then the lift dings and opens. So he gets on and leans to the side while pressing the number 6.

The lift stops on level 4 to let a young girl in. Will sees that she has a scar around the side of her neck and she stands unnaturally still hunched into herself. He immediately distances himself from her mentally, taking his attention away from her although his eyes follow the dim shape of her body on the blurry surface of the lift. Will feels rather than sees the girl unclench from herself and take a peek at him while he leans nonchalantly on the side of the lift and watches the scuffed toes of his old shoes. 

The girl gets out at level 6 with him and goes the same direction he is heading till she goes through a different corridor to another part of the building. Will’s step does not falter, but he watches her walk away with live interest in his eyes. Mulling on the girl with the scared throat, Will reaches room 679 and stops before it, watching the number screwed over the wooden door that is closed. Should he knock, Will wonders, or would it be better to just give the call to say that he had reached the room. Before he could decide on it, the door opened and Bedelia stepped out of the room, making Will take a step back to give Bedelia the space to walk.

“You came,” she says without any inflection in her voice, still the calm and steady voice of reason and quite authority, of the confidence that she _will_ listen to you because you are important. Will, after, wondered that Bedelia, so perspective, so instinctive about anything to do with Hannibal, how did she miss him? 

“I came,” Will says, “as promised. I always keep my promises Bedelia, if you remember.”

“Oh I still remember how well you keep promises Will, I do. I just did not think you would come,” Bedelia replied, a hint of a sharp smile somewhere there behind the mask of frozen inquiry. 

Will looks at her, really looks at her and finds that he feels pity for her. He left, because he could, because he dared. She never did, never though her capable of taking that step. He saw the droop of her eyelids, the beautiful face that held more beauty and serenity before and an openness that Will has come to recognise as her indicators of love. She had loved him then, those years ago, the child that he was, small and innocent and ensnared by the serpent that was her husband and that was to be Will’s foster father.

How exactly do you feel about the woman who was once your mother and one another time your rival for the same man? Was this a war and if so, who could even hope for a win and what indeed was the prize? The right to mourn Hannibal more? As in an official place of sadness, or a throne reserved for the deserving, or rather the one who Hannibal touched and sullied more? How do you even get over the fact that you once fell in love with your father?


	2. Chapter 2

Will says, “You look nice Lia.”

And there shines that sharp toothed smirk Will had found so darling as a small child, whenever directed at him made him feel so grown up and on in the secret of whatever was happening. Of belonging in the moment as an individual and not just a child, both too stupid and too knowing for his own good. Bedelia’s full name used to be a too big for his small mouth and yet unlearned tongue, so when she bestowed the right to call her Lia to Will without any hesitation, he had been ecstatic. 

When he went to live with them, there were days he would trail after her, calling her ‘Lia, Lia’, like a chant of love and how weak she had been then against that and him, with hugs and surprise cakes and milkshakes and warm kisses to noses and cheeks. This Bedelia looks very different now, _feels_ very different now, but a slight umbra from those days still linger.

In answer to Will, Bedelia says, “And you look very youthful Will. Just like the young man you are.”

Will smiles at that, a small but perhaps the first genuine smile he had smiled in a few days now. Then he eyes goes to the door behind Bedelia and the mirth evaporates. He hitches one shoulder towards that door and asks, “Is he awake?”

Bedelia looks old again as she glances behind her to the door and says, “He blinks his eyes every now and then. He has not forgotten or anything, surprisingly they said that he has shown a remarkable lack of dementia given his age and condition, so he is well aware what goes on around him, but, he can’t breathe without help now and I have not heard him speak in… I don’t even remember Will. They keep saying, any day now, and he keeps proving them wrong each day as usual.”

Bedelia gives Will a turn of her lips, that is not quite a smile, and says, “I know you didn’t want to come, I know, so I am very grateful you did come. I wouldn’t have asked Will, but I just think, … I believe, that he wants to see you one more time and that is what he had been waiting for.”

Will assumed as much when he got the call from Bedelia. 16 years and she did not change her number. He didn’t erase hers. Talk about fate.

Will asks her, “Is he awake now? Does he know I was coming?”

Bedelia says, with the lightest of touch to Will’s arm that lay by his side as she stepped around him to go to the end of the corridors, “He is sleeping. And he doesn’t know.”

Will gave a slight nod even though Bedelia did not look back. Hannibal was asleep. Bedelia would not like about that, about their first meeting in almost two decades. So Will pushed the door open a bit and peered through the straight crack that appeared before him. The room was white, thoughtlessly impersonal, with the steady beeping of machines giving a hint of the life lying within. Will could see the bed, that was positioned a bit back from the door, and surrounded by hulking machines. He could discern no movement from the bed.

Steeling his resolve, Will opened the door wide and stepped in. The beeps continued, in unsteady rhythms, somehow managing to match the beat of his own heart as it beat a quick tattoo. Will walked up right to the bed till he could see Hannibal and then he stopped, a pain that was not physical lacing his heart suddenly as he set his eyes on Hannibal after such a huge expanse of time.

Hannibal lay on his back, tubes hanging off his frame, from the skin and veins that seemed to hang off his bones even in slumber. Will looked at Hannibal draw in rattling breath after rattling breath, the oxygen mask snug against his face and felt the pain sink deeper, expanding its roots again along familiar paths that had taken Will years to burn off. Will gasped. Will had though he was over this, this immediate reaction to Hannibal, this yearning of yore, that he would be the stronger one this time. 

But no, tears were already falling from his face, wetting his lips in passing and cascading down the arches of his cheeks as he sought to stem his tears. Hannibal did not have the right anymore to affect him so, he did not, _he did not_ Will railed at himself, at the world that had assured him he would be able to face this, at Bedelia who had called him in the dead of the night, death stirring her vocal cords, as she had asked in words and in silences that meant more that would he consider coming back to see him one last time? The last time Will? 

And now look at him. Without a word, without a glance, Hannibal had consumed him again. His breath hitched as he wiped his face repeatedly, sobbing aloud at the man before him lying on his deathbed. 

He pulled out his crumpled cotton hanky from his pocket, a habit that Will had been reluctant to let go, and blew his nose into it. It was definitely not very hygienic as he put his palmful of fabric encased snot back in his pocket, but he just didn’t care at the moment. Will came closer and peered at Hannibal’s face, his eyelids thin and quivering while the machines near him made sure to fill his lungs with oxygen systemically. There was a light blanket covering Hannibal from waist down and Will traced one of his fingers over Hannibal’s wrist.

The next moment, Will put his lips, still wet from the tears on Hannibal's forehead and called out in a tentative voice, “Hannibal?” somehow hoping that Hannibal will open his eyes just from the sound of his voice. Hannibal does not stir and a lone hiccough leaves Will's mouth as he stares like a child.


	3. Chapter 3

Will opened his eyes and looked out from the warm space he was occupying on the big bed. Hannibal and Lia told him that it was his own room now. Imagine, one big room for small little Will and he didn’t even have to share. There was a cupboard that now held all of his new clothes that Lia bought for him, bags and bags of them, now neatly folded and placed in the cupboard so that he could take any of them out on his own. There was also a table, beside a shelf which was filled with Will’s favourite books. The table held his bag and copies, stacked in preparation for school today.

Will got down from the bed, smiling widely and just being happy with life at the moment. When Will was placed in a foster home, he had despaired, his small stature and inability to keep his own conclusions to himself making him a good target from the bullies. He had tried so much to be optimistic, he really did, smiling at everyone and always friendly, but hardly anyone smiled back at him. He was still the strange new kid when they came, for they wanted to take in foster kids. Hannibal had looked very rich and reserved in his pristine suit and Bedelia had been both so warm and beautiful that Will could feel jealousy already growing over the kid they would end up taking with them.

There was a small interview like thing when the lady who looked after him and those like him in the building called him, and Will tried to be pleasant and not say anything that came to his mind when he saw the two. He didn’t think he had been successful for the beautiful women had looked almost shocked at him and the man had looked on with interest. Will squirmed in his spot, scuffing his toe in the ground, cheeks aflame with shame at having presumably failed to please the couple enough. But then wonders of wonders, they actually picked him. They came to his bed, watched while he packed his meager amount of stuff, which included the lone picture he had of his family, he cradled in his mother’s arms, she laughing at something off the camera while a man, quite looking even in the picture held onto the woman softly.

Will always thought it was a beautiful picture and had plans of framing it someday and place it by his bed when he is grown up. 

Hannibal and Lia came in a nappy little blue car and Will got to sit alone in the back along with his small bag. Hannibal and Lia talked to each other over ordinary things and Will just let it soak in. It felt so much like a family moment. Both looked not really that kind or warm, but confidence wafted off them in sharp spikes of power. To Will, they had enough strength to not have to test and prove it by manhandling a small child like so many were wont to.

Of course there was the equal possibility that they could be cruel inspite of that. Power rarely gets to stay so concise and precise in its takeover. But. He was out of that cold and indifferent place and that has to considered to be a win at the very moment.

Reaching home, Bedelia was the one who showed him the house, with limited instruction of barred entrance anywhere, but clear orders on where not to go. It felt reassuring to Will that Bedelia, or Lia as he had already been permitted to say, had taken the pains to do that for him, to draw the boundaries in colours and lines he could comprehend and those that he did not have to intuit by sheer study. The house was big, with three bedrooms and bathrooms attached to all, the floors shiny and the walls adorned with minimal splashes of colour in framed covers.

Lia showed him to the room that was supposed to be his now and Will was immediately smitten. There was a big king in the room, the thick mattresses piled high so that he struggled a bit to get on it and places to keep his things nicely. After directing Will to put his bag by the bed, Lia took him to the kitchen, the only part that was yet to be showed. Will walked in meekly a few paces behind Lia and looked around surreptitiously. There was a wooden island over which Hannibal was toiling, still in his suit but with the coat off and his cuffs folded back over his forearms. 

Hannibal was cooking something and it smelled absolutely divine to Will, who had only a simple breakfast in the morning at that house. Hannibal gave him a brief and warm smile when he saw Will come in, but then turned back to his preparation again. Lia poured a chocolate milkshake into a tall glass stuck a crazy straw in it and put it on the table. She pulled the chair before it and told Will to sit on it. Will complied immediately and sat down in the chair pointed and pulled the glass to him only after Lia had told him to.

That seemed to please Lia, who sat down at another chair, the small kitchen table having four seats. Will sipped at the straw and looked around, his awe at the place evident as he stared with his wide eyes, almost hidden behind his glasses and mop of curly hair that threatened to spill right onto his face. Hannibal came over with two plates in his hand and placed them before Will and Lia, over the placements mats that were already there. Then be brought his plate over and sat down so that Will was on his left and Lia was on his right.

Sausage, scrambled eggs, bacon and small hash browns sat on the plate, decorated in a visually captivating spiral and looked up at Hannibal, who had already cut off a portion of his cooked sausage and was biting into it. Lia was picking up a forkful of eggs that she put in her mouth with relish. Will stared a bit more, and only with an encouraging nod from Hannibal did he take up his own spoon and started eating. Eyes glued to food before him, Will missed the look that passed between the couple, pleased contentment, and the smile that followed.

The food was delicious and Will ate all of his portions. He could only half finish the milkshake, but no one reprimanded him for that. Eating done, this time Hannibal took him to his assigned bedroom, told him to brush his teeth and wash his face and by the time he was done, his bed was made and Hannibal was standing by its end. Will got in, with a bit of difficulty and then got under the blanket there. Hannibal pulled the blanket up till it reached his chin and then tucked the edges around him. Will blinked and stared when Hannibal leaned over, kissed his forehead lightly and said, “Goodnight Will.” 

The “Goodnight Daddy,” hovered on the tip of Will’s tongue in turn but he did not say it.


	4. Chapter 4

Lia took him shopping, buying him clothes, belts, bags, books, shoes, shampoos and soaps, and even the odd snack. Will diligently stayed by her side and made sure to keep in her sight. Lia had Will change into the new clothes at the first store and so now Will did not feel very bad at walking around with Lia. She would ask him every now and then as to his choices, but he didn’t really have any, so Lia stopped asking. However, when he showed her a book that was on the shelf on a bookstore they were passing by, she immediately went in and bought it for him. 

Will ended up with more books, some only picture books about dogs, but Lia did not tell him not to or to stop even once. When Will was satisfied with his selection, Lia added some of her own, perhaps books she thought Will should read or maybe will like and then ended up with a neat little heap of books. Will at first thought that maybe he was overstepping his bounds, but Lia just talked normally with him and the ease with which she accepted him to be at ease put him at ease. It was all going to be ok because Lia and Hannibal though so and they didn’t look like people who were that very much wrong. 

Shopping done, Lia took all the bags, put them in the car, and then took Will to lunch. He had on a clean pink shirt and small boy short pants and they let him in, hardly looking at him when he trailed behind Lia. They had a nice pasta with lots of grated cheese over it and juice for Will with wine for Lia. Lia let him know that he would be going with Hannibal next day to his new school to get acquainted and learn where his new classrooms were going to be. Will tried to show a positive reaction to the news but he didn’t fool Lia.

Lia said, “I know Will that it will be hard on you, to meet new people so in the middle of the school year on top of adjusting to a new place and people at home too. But we cannot let your education slide and we, Hannibal and I believe that it will do you good to get into a natural and neutral schedule at school. If you face any problem Will, do not hesitate to come to us, we will always make sure that no one can hurt you.”

Will gulped his mouthful of pasta, stared at Lia who looked so beautiful and lovely and stowed the small but persistent voice at the back of his head that said that he did not deserve this and said, “I will Lia,” while at the same time realizing that he never actually would. They have already given him food and shelter that did not come as a compromise of will and needs so Will did not see any use to upsetting the system. He had enough understanding to realize that Hannibal and Lia won’t be able to do much about the kind of treatment he will be metted out by his peers, but why let them be aware.

Will ate his lunch, smiled at Lia and gave his thanks. That would have to suffice for now, this show of agreeableness that was almost a constant for adults. For now, that would do just fine.

Lunch done, they headed home. Hannibal and Lia both worked, but they had taken a few days off to assimilate Will into their lives. Both Lia and Hannibal were doctors, and worked grueling hours, or so he had been told. Will was yet to view that himself. Hannibal made dinner again, steaks with vegetables and gravy. It was as tasty as yesterday’s dinner of breakfast food and Will ate his plate clean. Hannibal gave him a pleased smile at that, and washed the dishes and this time Lia tucked him into bed. She didn’t give him a forehead kiss or say good night, she just ruffled his hair once and then stepped out of his room.

Will found that he liked Hannibal tucking him in better and should he be ever allowed, he would wish Hannibal back as well someday.

The next day, Hannibal took him to his new school, which was massive, and everyone wore uniform unlike his previous school. Everyone smelled nice too. Hannibal had a stack of paper that he showed the people from the school while Will sat by his side. The people looked impressed for some reason, although what exactly Will could not ascertain. All he knew for sure was that he would most probably have to take a few tests here. He was a little shocked when he was lead to another room and informed that his tests would begin. He had prepared nothing.

The tests were weird, questions odd, but he answered them as best as he could and by the time he came out, the two teachers who had tested him were smiling at him, and looked like they were pleased as well. Will just hoped that it meant that he was getting into the school so that he had not wasted Hannibal’s time and effort uselessly. By the time Hannibal and Will leave the premises of the school, Will had been admitted and the headmaster shakes Will’s hand with a greedy little look on his face and officially welcomes Will to their school.

Hannibal smiles at the man for Will at that, pulls Will to his side a bit and walks out. Will sags in relief. Hannibal looks over with a light frown between his eyes.

When they get to the car, Will climbs in the passenger seat in the front and only when Hannibal starts driving the car does he asks, “Did you like the school Will?”

“I did, yes Sir, Mr. Lecter,” Will answered seriously.

Hannibal frowned more at that and said, “I have already told you to call me Hannibal. We are family now. Hmm. I assume you found the headmaster at tad too eager perhaps. Will, I don’t know if anyone have told you or not but you register as a genius in the IQ test. You are specially smart and especially intuitive. That’s what the tests were for. They will be very glad and grateful to have you in their school, so you really need not worry much as they will look well after you. So will I and Bedelia.”

“I understand, M… Hannibal,” Will said, his cheeks blushing.

“Good boy,” Hannibal smiled at him and Will squirmed at that, happy and full of wonder at his life.


	5. Chapter 5

Bedelia came back with two coffees in cardboard cups, and some bagels. She remembered how Will liked bagels more than donuts. She handed him one coffee and Will took one good inhale of the perfect aroma of the coffee. It was from a small coffee shop that Hannibal had introduced Will to and that Will had come to love on his own. They knew how to make absolutely delicious coffee and Hannibal’s approval had been the thing to seal the deal. Now Lia had driven for more than an hour one way and back to get the coffee and bagels for Will and Will felt that old love for her shine for a brief moment.

Lia went and sat on the chair that was by the bed, so Will went to the big window over which the curtains had been pushed to the side to let some natural light into the room. Will stood by the window and looked down onto the courtyard slash garden below. He was on the second story and he could see people milling around there. One woman was pushing someone on a wheelchair while three couples walked by slowly, one holding onto the other in infirm grips. The grass looked rather patchy, just starting to come in. Small mounds dotted the winding pathways of stone slabs, large enough for a car to drive.

Lia cleared her throat so Will turned back, the sight of frail Hannibal a still a surprise.

She said, “He should wake in an hour or so. He sits very fitfully so they have started administrating drugs to make sure that he sleeps.”

She paused and then said, in a more hesitant tone, her eyes downcast, “He still talks about you, you know?”

“I suppose he does,” Will answers with a bite in his voice.

Bedelia goes a bit pale. There are many questions that Will can, has the right, to ask now, ‘Why didn’t you stop it?’, ‘Why didn’t you see?’ and most damning of all, ‘Why didn’t you save me?’ There are even more questions that Will can scream at the prone Hannibal, get answers that Hannibal would be unable to not tell, as he sways on the precipice of life and death. These litter the air like black dots of smoke, making it that harder to see Will as much as it is to look at him and Bedelia just bows her head lower.

Will hisses through his closed teeth and runs a hand through his curls. They are still as soft as Hannibal had preferred. He swallows whatever it is that he was going to say and asked instead, “When is the doctor coming to check on him again?”

Bedelia checks her watch and said, “In a few minutes now, actually. He has the best care this place can provide and this is the best place we can afford, so I don’t think Hannibal… I think you will get to talk him a bit as well.”

“Lucky me,” Will said, making Bedelia flinch and turn her face away, her lips pinch in regret. Will can see that regret now, how she hid it so well for all this time is applaudable, but he could still see it, in the low sweep of her downcast eyes, the way her teeth bit into her lips coloured in a sedate shade and expensive enough to not spread to her white teeth, the way her hands clutch at each other, her hair falls over the side of the face and she makes no attempt to move them out of the way. She is hiding from Will and his eyes and Will sees that.

Will pulled in another audible breath, pulled the bigger chair that was in the corner of the room and brought it to Hannibal’s other side before sitting on it. He put his elbows on his thighs, placed his face on his open palms and regarded over Hannibal’s frail and still body.

“I will never forgive you or him, Lia, do not expect me of that, no matter that he is dying and now matter you are begging. That is something that I will not give,” Will said in a too neutral tone that made Bedelia turn to look at him.

Another bite to her lips and then she said, “I understand.”

“But I still do carry the debt of the time you, you both had loved me and saved me, and gave me a future where I as me became possible. So, no, I will not forgive, but I can pretend to forget, if only for the sake of the best memories I hold of the both of you. When you pulled me out of that house and brought me to yours, you gave me the kind of life I didn’t think was possible for me anymore. I, I got the chance to a good education, I got a family that loved me when I needed it and I got a chance, and this is my repayment for all of that, for the people you were, for the parts of the promise you kept,” Will said with perfect clarity.

“Will, I, you don’t have to make tell me how much we, how much I failed you, I know, I am aware and I will not try to colour a favour you are doing as anything else. I am, I am very sorry that … I am sorry Will, and I don’t even expect you to forgive me, but I would also like to know that I am sorry, very much so and will never cease to be till my last breath,” Bedelia said in a low voice.

Will gave an empty smile at that and turned back to Hannibal. It looked like he would be waking up soon. His limbs were making minute twitches and his eyeballs under his eyelids were moving. 

Someone suddenly knocked on the door and then it opened before Bedelia could open it. In walked the doctor Will had seen at the front steps when he came in, giving the bad news to that family. She had looked so genuine as if she could understand perfectly what they were feeling at the sudden loss. When she stepped closer, Will saw the same genuine look of empathy on the doctor’s face.

Coming to stand by Bedelia, she faced Will and said, “Hello, I am Doctor Bloom.”

**Author's Note:**

> This should have around 25-30 chapters. Unbetaed. Thanks for reading. Kudos and comments please!


End file.
